Chance Encounter
by bingsrule
Summary: It's an AU Chandler and Monica story. It's hard to summarize, basically two strangers meet by chance on their way somewhere, lose contact, and have no idea that they're about to meet again very shortly.
1. Default Chapter

I decided to try breaking this up into a couple chapters and see how that goes. It will probably be 2 or 3 chapters, _possibly four_, but I doubt it, I know exactly where it's going, it's just getting there that's the problem. : ) Sorry it's kinda short but that's cause I decided if I was gonna break it up that I had to end the first part here. Please review if you want me to update, I won't update if I think no one wants to read it!

It's an AU Chandler Monica story, Chandler and Ross went to college together, but Chandler never went to the Gellers for Thanksgiving, so Chandler and Monica have never met.

Disclaimer: I don't own them

It was a dreary Saturday morning in Manhattan. The sky was gray and overcast. It was one of those lazy days where you wanted to do nothing but stay in bed all day.

Unfortunately for him, he had to be up. And he was running late. The one day for his alarm to not go off! It just had to be today of all days. He wouldn't have minded his alarm not going off on a work day. It would have given him an excuse to call in sick. Not that he minded going to work, he was lucky in that he actually liked his job. Today was going to be a strange day. It certainly wouldn't be the highlight of his life, but it was a day he had come to accept. If he wanted their relationship to improve, and it finally was improving after all the years of arguing and estrangement, he had to do this, no matter how bizarre he found it. He quickly showered, got dressed and grabbed his keys and ran out the door. Thank goodness there was a cab sitting on the corner right outside his building. Like it was waiting for him. He grabbed the door and opened it.

Today of all days she couldn't be late! As if her parents didn't already have enough ammo to use against her, she could just imagine the ruckus it would cause if she were a second off schedule. She could just hear her mother now, if she wasn't precisely on time and anything went wrong, she would be the one to take all the blame. It had been that way for her entire existence thus far. Her mother was predictable that way and would never change. Why were there never any cabs available in this city when she needed one? When she didn't need one they were everywhere. She needed a cab. Right now. The subway would take too long. Not that she would have been able to manage the subway stairs in the shoes she was wearing anyway. Just when she felt like screaming from frustration, a cab pulled up to the corner letting passengers out. Finally! At last she thought, maybe her luck was about to change for the better.

But right as she was about to reach for the door, a man appeared, seemingly out of nowhere and beat her to it. Damn! Where did he come from? There was no way she could lose this cab! Ordinarily she would have backed down and let him have it, but not today. This cab was hers, she had seen it first! It was only fair"Please let me have this cab, I'm in a hurry" she begged the stranger. "Where you headed" he asked. "The Waldorf" she replied, the desperation obvious in her voice. Normally she wouldn't have been so quick to give out such information to someone she didn't know, but she truly was desperate, and something about the way the wind had ruffled his brown hair gave him a boyish charm and instinctively she knew she could trust him. "It's your lucky day" he smiled brightly at the raven haired beauty whose blue eyes shone as brightly as his own. "I'm going there too. We can split a cab." She hopped in, grateful to finally be on her way.

The cab swirled its way recklessly through rush hour traffic, barely avoiding hitting two cars. The motion of which had thrust her into his strong, comfortable arms, causing momentary embarrassment on both sides before she moved back over to hers. They finally arrived at their destination fifteen minutes later. The cab pulled up to the curb next to the Park Avenue hotel and came to an abrupt stop. An awkward silence ensued. "Well here we are" he stated the obvious for lack of anything else coming to mind to say. "Thanks for letting me share the cab. It was very nice of you" she shyly smiled. He blushed. "Well you know, mi cab is su cab." Did he really hear those words coming out of his mouth? Mi cab is su cab? What was he thinking? Well there went any chance he may have had, he figured she'd definitely think he's an idiot now if she didn't already. He turned to pay the cab driver.

When he turned back around, she was gone. He'd just blown it. He cursed himself for not getting her number. Or her name. Typical. Did he really expect any different? Beautiful girls shot him down all the time. And she was stunning.


	2. Chapter 2

I know it's short, but I wanted to end Chapter 2 at this point. Currently I think it will be four or five chapters. Hope it doesn't completely suck. Please review if you are reading it.

Disclaimer: I don't own them. But it anyone wants to give me Matthew Perry, I won't refuse him. : )

She had arrived with two minutes left to spare.

She was overcome with guilt for the way she had run out on the handsome stranger who had been kind enough to let her share the cab. In this city, there weren't many people who would have done that for her. How could she have done that? What must he think of her? It was rude, he must think that she's rude and has no manners. She didn't want him to think that. The thought of him thinking negatively of her was upsetting to her.

There was something about him, she had butterflies in her stomach the entire cab ride over sitting next to him. His eyes were a deep shade of blue that she hadn't known existed. She would have been willing to stare into them for hours. Just thinking of him now made her feel a bit dizzy and weak in the knees. She wasn't used to feeling this way, it was new to her. Most of the guys she met were arrogant jerks who didn't deserve a second glance.

He was definitely different.

The way she had just taken off in a hurry without even saying goodbye left her feeling a bit like Cinderella. Another time and place, he could have easily been her prince charming. If only she'd have had a glass slipper to leave behind for him to find her with. But there was no time for silly childhood fantasy now, she had to shake these feelings, stop daydreaming about a man she would likely never see again. Taking the time out to flirt would definitely have made her tardy, and her mother would never have let her hear the end of it if she had been anything short of prompt.

* * *

He hurriedly walked through the lobby of the hotel. Try as he might, he was unable to get the mystery woman from the cab off of his mind. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman he had ever known in real life. If only he'd known her name. There was no use dwelling on what could have been, no point crying over spilt milk, she was gone now.

He approached the ballroom where the ceremony would be taking place in under an hour. He stopped short in front of the entrance. There was no backing out now, it was official, in black and white, he was face to face with the sign, up close and personal, the two names were listed together. Two names he wished he never had to see together in that context.

He still found it disturbing after all this time. But she had reached out to him and was making an effort to repair their relationship, and he knew he needed to meet her half way and do the same. He was genuinely trying. He just didn't think it was normal. But then when had she ever done anything normal. And it was out of his control at this point. He ran his left hand through his hair and his right hand across the sign, he had to touch it to see that it was for real and glanced at it again one last time before heading towards his destination.

It read Bing-Geller wedding.

Are you confused? If you are, part three will clear it all up. Please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, so I decided to update with a short chapter. This is a flashback chapter that will at least clear up any possible confusion from Chapter 2. At this point I have no idea how many chapters there will be if I keep making short updates.

Disclaimer: I don't own them. I'm still willing to take Matthew Perry if anyone wants to give me him. : )

He still remembered the day he had first found out about them.

It the middle of the semester senior year of college. It was a warm spring day, the temperature was above average for that time of the year. Birds were chirping, flowers were blooming, couples were expressing their love on the campus lawns a little more risquély than appropriate for public viewing.

He had generally been in good spirits. He had just found out that he had aced his midterms, and after months of trying, he had finally gotten that pretty blonde in his English class to agree to go on a date with him. Okay so that relationship ended up not lasting very long once he found out she didn't really have all that much going on upstairs, and once he discovered somewhat to his surprise, that being able to hold down an intelligent conversation with his girlfriend apparently mattered to him more so than he wanted to admit. But that's a whole other story, he realized his mind was veering off topic. Back to the matter at hand, he had just landed this hot date, a rare accomplishment it seemed, he was happy.

Life was good. He was about to graduate in a month, and he had landed an internship at The New York Times. It had been a real monumental accomplishment. The competition for the spot had been fierce, but he'd worked hard and had been rewarded.

He had gotten out of class early that day, decided to skip the student union and go straight back to the dorm.

He wasn't prepared for what he was about to face as he opened the door to  
his room.

As soon as he opened the door, he noticed his roommate and a woman clearly going at it quite noisily under the sheets in his roommate's bed. He started to turn to leave and get out of their way unnoticed and avoid any further embarrassment for himself.

But unfortunately as it turned out, it was too late. His roommate and the other person had  
apparently heard the door creak open and both popped their heads up in the direction the noise came from. It was clear by the look of horror written over their faces that they obviously hadn't been expecting him back so soon. He immediately regretted his decision to skip the student union. If only he could go back in time, change his decision. Life was simpler. Ignorance was bliss.

At first he thought his eyes were deceiving him. It had to be some type of trick. There was no way this could be happening. Not to him. He closed his eyes, counted to three and reopened them. Damn! He wasn't dreaming. They were still there. It was a nightmare. Actually this was far worse than his most terrifying nightmares.

How could this have happened? How? How? How? Why? Why? Why? What were they thinking? Actually scratch that, he preferred not knowing. It was beyond his comprehension. Life was supposed to be good, damn it!

He was mortified. He felt nauseous and was sure he was about to throw up.

His best friend was in the throws of passion with of all people, his own mother!

Some of you correctly guessed that Ross and Nora are the ones getting married! Good going: )


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews! Please keep them coming. To the person who said that Mondler are related, imo Nora and Ross getting married doesn't make Chandler and Monica related. They're adults and it's not like they were raised as family. Sorry for the delay, I just haven't been all that happy with the way this one is coming. Thanks for reading this, please review.

_Disclaimer: I don't own them _

* * *

Chandler had been in a rage. 

He had thought Ross was his friend, his first real friend.

Sure Ross had been a bit of a geek, but Chandler was tired of his so called "cool" friends who were only his friends because he was rich and because his mom dressed provocatively. He thought Ross was different, someone unphased by his coming from money.

Ross was the one person he had felt comfortable enough around to confide everything in. Ross knew all the problems he had with his mother growing up and continued to have to this day. He had told Ross about his lonely childhood, about always struggling unsuccessfully for his parents attention as a child. Convinced if he was the perfect child they'd stop ignoring him. Then deciding being a screw up might get their attention. But nothing ever worked. All that ever happened was he'd get sent off to his room or to boarding school. His parents were both seemingly more interested in their own love lives than in the little boy and then later the young man who desperately needed their love and guidance.

Ross was supposed to be his best friend.

How could he have done this to him? With her?

He expected this type of behavior from his mother, she had been embarrasing him for years.

But he had thought better of Ross.

He had trusted Ross.

Clearly now it seemed that trust had been misplaced.

It was betrayal. Plain and simple.

* * *

Now, almost five years later, here he was, preparing to give his mother away to his former best friend. 

It was a Freudian nightmare. He was less than an hour from gaining a step-father who was only a few months older than himself. Though his relationship with his mother had improved drastically in the past year and despite the fact that he had started cautioiusly speaking to Ross again over the past few months for his mother's sake, and only for his mother's sake, their relationship and upcoming marriage was a concept he still had a hard time wrapping his mind around.

In the immediate aftermath of his horrifying discovery, Chandler's relationship with his mother had only gotten worse.

Nora had tried to explain herself and justify their relationship, but he'd refused to hear it. There had always been some excuse with her. Why was this time any  
different?

He had been stubborn and refused to speak to his mother for a while after that. But she was his mother, flaws and all. She hadn't blamed him for hating her. She would have hated her too.She had never been prepared to be a mother. And she had no idea what to do with a boy. Things only got worse with the divorce, she had been too busy trying to prove to Charles that she could make it and be successful without him. Therefore she was always working and busy with her love life, unfortunately it had been at Chandler's expense.

Depsite how it appeared however, Nora geniunely loved her son. She knew she had a lot to make up to him for his childhood. So she continued to reach out to him. And eventually he realized flawed as she was, he needed his mother back in his life. And  
things slowly began to improve between mother and son. They still had a long road ahead of them. But they were on speaking terms,  
and it was a start.

* * *

Her brother was getting married today. Monica was happy for him. Really she was. A bit  
jealous, perhaps, since she was nowhere close, but mostly happy. 

She had never in her life seen Ross this happy. It had seemed strange to her at first, her brother was involved with a woman twice his age. She thought he'd lost his mind. Her sister-in-law was going to be the same age as her mother for crying out loud!

But then she got to know Nora and they became friends. They went shopping together, and Nora would give her all kinds of positive advice about dating and life. Nora was like a surrogate mother to her. She got along better with Nora than she ever had with her own mother. She could confide in Nora and Nora didn't make her feel like she was a total screw up the way her own mother seemingly went out of her way to.

Monica had been thrilled when she was asked to be the maid of honor. Nora wanted the wedding to be as much about family as possible. Nora didn't have any daughters, but she loved Monica as though she was her own. Monica was sweet and beautiful and kind, everything she would have wanted had she had a girl, everything that she now wanted for her son. She knew nothing could make up for her lousy parenting skills, but introducing this angel to her son would have to earn her some brownie points.

Monica stood in the bridal suite in her bridesmaid dress and stared at herself in the mirror. She was insecure about her looks, her mother's constant nagging had done great damage to her self image, but she knew she looked good. The mahogany colored dress was especially flattering against her skin tone.

Staring into the mirror, she couldn't help but imagine what her wedding day would be like. To be standing at the alter vowing to love someone forever. Someone who would love her, and cherish her. The thought made her warm inside. Growing up and dreaming of her wedding day, she had never had a face on her groom, but now in hervision it was the stranger from the cab standing beside her, holding her hands, his blue eyesfilled with passion for her. They were a happy couple, completely in love. At least in her mind.

Monica was lost in her daydreams when Nora entered dressed in her wedding dress. Monica gasped when she saw her. She looked beautiful.

"Wow!" was all Monica could ennunciate when she saw the bride.

"I look like a cow, don't I?" Nora laughed.

"No! You're beautiful." Monica assured her.

"Such a sweet girl you are my dear" Nora said hugging Monica for a minute.

"I wish you were my mother, I get along so much better with you than my own  
mother."

"You wouldn't feel that way if you had to grow up with me" Nora resonded.

"Couldn't have been worse than my childhood" Monica shrugged.

"I was an awful mother to my son, I have a lot to make up to him" Nora sighed and paused"If I did have a daughter, I'd want her to be like you though."

"Yeah well my mother doesn't agree, she goes out of her way to find fault with me."

"Oh honey, she's a mother, I'm sure she just wants the best for you. Even if she doesn't know how to express it."

"Doesn't seem that way to me" Monica stated resigned to her horrible relationship with her mother.

"Well, I'll just have to have a word with her then" Noraresponded. "Remind me to  
introduce you to my son Chandler at the reception. You two would be  
perfect together."

"Nora, I'm not sure..."

Any other time Monica would have been open to Nora's attempt to play matchmaker. Monica hadn't been all that successful with relationships, and if he was even half as great as Nora always proclaimed, then he sounded like a dream come true.

But she just couldn't get the handsome stranger from the cab out of her head.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for taking months to update this. I'm really not very good at writing multiple chapter stories. I've known all along where this story is going but it doesn't make it any easier for me to write. It all sounds better in my head than it does in Microsoft Word. I don't know if I like this chapter. Please review.

_Disclaimer: I still don't own them_

* * *

Chandler hestitantly knocked on the door to the bridal suite. 

His mother opened the door and let him in. Chandler's jaw dropped when he saw her standing in her wedding dress. She looked beautiful. And classy. He wasn't used to seeing his mom looking so classy. She looked like a whole other person. "Wow, Mom, you look beautiful" he stated nervously.

Nora smiled brightly at her son and enveloped him in a hug and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you dear, and thank you for being so great about all of this. I know how strange this is for you."

"I just want you to be happy. If you're happy, that's what matters" he responded somberly.

"More than you know" Nora said, beaming with happiness.

She looked at her son "I am so proud of you. You have become a wonderful young man, despite having been raised by me" she said with a laugh. "I couldn't have asked for a better son. I love you so much even if I didn't always show it enough" she said causing Chandler to blush.

Nora wanted nothing but the best for her son. She wanted him to be happy, and hoped that one day he would find a true love like she finally had. Maybe it would be sooner than he realized. She was determined to have him meet Monica.

* * *

The moment was finally here. Chandler stood outside the double plated doors next to his mom. It was now or never. He didn't know why he felt so nervous. All he had to do was walk his mom down the aisle. She was the one getting married. Chandler turned to take her arm. She really did look beautiful.

* * *

On cue, Chandler and Nora emerged through the doors. All eyes were on them. 

Jack and Judy Geller watched as Chandler walked down the aisle their eyes filled with rage aimed at the young man. They blamed him for this travesty.

Judy knew he was no good the second she had met their favorite child's roommate. He didn't seem like the serious, studious type, someone who would be an appropriate influence on Ross. He seemed like the type capable of corrupting her straightlaced son. For some strange reason Ross liked him, but Judy knew better. Anyone that sarcastic couldn't be trusted. And it turned out her instincts were right.

All that Ross gained out of his friendship with that no good boy was meeting the boy's tramp of a mother. For a woman the same age as herself, Judy thought she dressed like a harlot. Her son was only a man, she could understand him sleeping with her, but having a serious relationship with a woman like that?

For the life of her, she couldn't understand what her son was thinking. Ross deserved better, someone younger, more elegant, respectable, who didn't dress like the characters on the covers of her erotic novels.

Jack and Judy had desperately wanted grandchildren from their son. Ross would never have children now that he was marrying a woman old enough to be his mother. That Chandler boy had a way of ruining all their plans for their first born and favorite child.

If only Monica hadn't been so fat growing up, Judy thought. Maybe she would have been popular then and Ross could have fallen for one of her friends, someone more appropriate, closer to his age. But no. Monica was a huge disappointment to her, and her failure to have been thin and have friends for her brother's sake was just another one of her many shortcomings. The Geller's, Judy especially, always dismissed their youngest daughter Monica as a lost cause. They didn't expect or want anything from her. Even now when Monica was thin, beautiful and a successful chef, Judy still thought she was a failure. All of their dreams were for Ross, and now they were no more.

Monica was about to receive the shock of her life. She knew Nora would be walking down the aisle with her son. But she had no idea...

From her place at the front of the aisle, her heart skipped a beat. She thought she was dreaming, making it up. It was him. The man of her dreams, walking slowly towards her. She had thought she would never see him again. This was definitely unexpected. Now here he was inching closer by the minute. Monica smiled brightly at him, feeling a combination of nervous and excited. She was unable to take her eyes off of him, afraid if she looked away he wouldn't really be there..

He smiled nervously and held tightly on to his mother, smiling politely at everyone they passed.

When they reached the front, he finally saw her. She was standing there smiling at him, a vision of loveliness. She was every bit as beautiful as he had remembered.This day was suddenly taking a turn for the better. Maybe he hadn't blown his chance after all.

He handed his mother off to his former best friend. This definitely had to be the most bizarre thing he had ever done. But her happiness was what mattered.

Besides the maid of honor was the sole focus of his attention now anyway.

He'd thought he'd lost her once, he wasn't going to lose her again.

Twenty minutes later, Ross and Nora were declared husband and wife, but as for Chandler and Monica, all they could see was each other.

* * *

Okay, there will be one more chapter, hopefully it will be better than this one. Please review. 


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